Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio Gandia, MD, FACEP, NREMT.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Raised in the South Bronx and Spanish Harlem by a single mother, I managed to make it through many schools I attended and finally to Medical School. After my residency training in New York, I moved to South Florida in 1988 to start my professional career in Emergency Medicine. My first job was at Memorial Reginal Hospital in Broward County. During my first couple of years of practice, I became interested in Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine. In 1991 I became a Medical Director to an EMT/Paramedic training program. This event was the beginning of my love and commitment to the pre-hospital providers. By the mid-1990’s I was part owner of 6 EMT/Paramedic schools throughout the state graduating over 2000 students a year. I was extremely proud of the student we mentored throughout those years who are not leaders in the industry. My professional career continued to advance as I became involved in all aspects of Emergency Medicine. I became involved in county, state and national committees including selected as President of Florida EMS.
I completed my medical training in New York and moved to South Florida in 1988. At that time, I started to work at Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, FL. In 1991, I started to get involved in Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine as Medical Director for an EMT/Paramedic training program. As I became more involved in Emergency Medicine, I started to be appointed to and joined many local, state and national organizations and committees. I was honored to receive numerous awards throughout my career and soon was part owner and Medical Director of six EMT/Paramedic schools throughout the state. The institution was graduating over 2000 students a year and was one of the most influential programs in the State.
As my involvement progressed, I was honored to become the President of the Florida Association of EMS Medical Directors. I am most proud that during my tenure as President, the organization became involved in the changes to Stoke and Cardiac care so far as to have legislation for Stroke Centers and Cardiac Centers in Florida. The impetuous of these changes came from the Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine providers that held hospitals accountable for the rapid and emergent care given to these Stroke and Cardiac patients. I was honored with an award by the American Heart Association/Stroke Association at their International Conference as Stroke Advocate of the year. Academically, I have held teaching positions at Nova Southeastern University, University of Miami, Florida International University, Broward College and Barry University.
This now brings us to our present and most exciting project to date. I am President and Chief Medical Officer of Braxton College in Bonita Springs, Florida. This college is a fully nationally accredited college offering Associates Degrees and Bachelor’s Degrees in multiple disciplines along with EMT and Paramedic education and Fire training. Due to our commitment to the Pre-Hospital providers, we have developed programs that would help the EMT/Paramedics attain their degrees from a nationally accredited institution that understands their job demands and is geared to make their education easier and applicable to their profession.
Braxton College will soon be moving to a new building with state of the art classrooms and simulation labs. The college will continue to offer a number of new degrees soon including a RN to BSN degree to help our nursing partners achieve their Bachelor’s degrees. Recognizing the challenges to the adult learner and their other responsibilities to work and family, our AS/BS degrees are fully online which makes the process easier but yet comprehensive and challenging.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Growing up in some of the worse neighborhoods in New York, the South Bronx and Spanish Harlem, to a single mom certainly was not a smooth road. I must say that I would not change that experience and “street” education for anything. I believe it had made me who I am today understanding our multicultural environment. While in my 32nd year of Emergency Medicine and perhaps the hardest and most challenging year this 2020, I continue to enjoy what I do, at my stage, I truly am honored to be able to continue to practice and teach the new generation of medical professionals. The difficulties of a small business ownership is at times overwhelming but I have been fortunate to have incredible partners whom I must credit, Bill McGrath and Richard Gonzalez, that also are committed to education and just simply doing the right thing and we believe everything else will follow. As any small business during this pandemic, we have had to adjust and become creative. The pandemic has made us innovative, we have invested in state of the art simulation equipment with live like mannequins, high fidelity’s equipment and innovative teaching styles.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Braxton College – what should we know?
Our company is essentially made up of three separate entities.
Braxton College is a fully accredited degree offering institution, offering Associates and Bachelors degrees. It also has a Department of EMS offering EMT and Paramedic. In addition, college has a Fire division that offers Fire Fighter training which will allow for Fire certification in Florida.
The college also has an International Division that holds conferences and classes all over the world including our major market in South America. Our Continuing Medical Education Division offers most of the classes required for licensure by EMT, Paramedics, nurses and physicians. We are proud to have been designated by the American Heart Association as a Training Center which is the highest category of training which allows the college to provide all of the AHA classes to both professionals and community partners. In addition, the Training Center can oversee training sites that can hold their classes under our supervision. This is of great importance to many institutions such as Fire Departments and Hospitals.
Southeastern Medical Academy is n EMT and Paramedic school in Marathon in the Florida Keys. This institution is a very important school in the Keys supplying Pre-Hospital education to the entire Keys an extremely underserved area for academic opportunities. We are extremely proud of SEMA in the Keys, a few years ago we took on the expensive and labor-intensive process of obtaining national accreditation to this school. SEMA trains the entire Kes from Ocean Reef to Key West. SEMA has created wonderful opportunities to the Keys community that would
Our company has three separate arms. Braxton College is our degree offering institution as described earlier. We have a EMT/Paramedic school in the Florida Keys in Marathon. We are extremely proud of this campus because it is also nationally accredited. This campus not only trains the students but also is responsible for multiple training courses to the Fire Departments throughout the entire Keys from Ocean Reef to Key West. We are proud to be able to train in a severely underserved area. Our institution has partnered with local leaders and educators in all our programs to better serve the Keys community with their unique needs and challenges.
The third arm of our company is International Consulting and Education Partners. INCEP is the consulting arm that helps and evaluates different institutions’ business plans, process improvement and accreditation standards. INCEP has help many institutions with their accreditation procedures and process, we have evaluated their educational methodologies, instructor practices and overall staffing. We evaluate every component of their institution from front desk employee to directors and managers, we help with their job descriptions to HR reviews. Our company is well known in the industry for our commitment to education, our ability to develop programs uniquely to their needs.
What’s set us apart from many institutions is our ability to adapt to your needs, our flexibility in schedule. As you know any standard college has strict and firm times for their classes, we have the ability to schedule classes to fit your needs. Our business model understands that these days adult students may have jobs maybe switching careers and need a flexible schedule to meet their financial and educational needs. One of the things that I believe sets us apart is our longevity and between us over 60 years of education experience. During these years, we have been involved in all aspects of business and education at the local, state and national levels. Braxton staff is involved in numerous organization and national committees, I personally am on the State EMS advisory committee a position appointed by the governor, my partners are leaders in the industry representing Braxton as Presidents and Chairpersons of numerous organizations.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I believe the simple characteristic of knowing our product well, trusting our leadership and most of all, those that do business with us realize that we do our business at a very high level. We always are true to our word and believe that things will come to us if we just do our thing right, keep to our word and do the best we can. With our experience, we have developed a very large network of extremely talented individuals who always help us with every new project.
Contact Info:
- Address: 27975 Old US 41th Rd
Bonita Spring, FL 34135 - Website: Braxton.edu
- Phone: 888-983-2423
- Email: agandia@braxton.edu
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